


ABCs

by Dameceles



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Education, Family Fluff, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Kid Fic, No Deeprealms, writing lessons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 05:53:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15503736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dameceles/pseuds/Dameceles
Summary: A lil' ficlet I wrote for a Niles-centric zine. Just some family fluff between Zero and his young daughter (before Eponine's older and snider).





	ABCs

“Dad, you’re home!” 

Zero was ripped away from the bliss of slumber as a weight suddenly landed in his bed. He recognized the excited giggles belonging to a very familiar six-year-old girl, and gave into the temptation of turning his face into the pillow. That got an indignant cry from his daughter, as he’d known it would, and then little hands tugged at the clothes he hadn’t bothered to change out of when he’d reached his private quarters and collapsed onto this bed.

“Where’ve you been? You were gone too long!”

“…why don’t you tell me,” he asked and turned his face enough to peer at her with his good eye. Zero rummaged under the pillow, pulled out a wrinkled square of parchment, and held it out to Éponine.

Staring at it, she scrunched her nose like it was something unpleasant and didn’t reach to take it. Instead, she demanded, “What’s that?”

“My mission briefing. All the dirty details of where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing are written right here. Why don’t you read it?”

His daughter’s eyes, a more delicate shade of blue than his own, darted away. He tried tipping the parchment closer and she actually leaned back— not very subtle in her evasion. It confirmed what Zero had been told after returning to Krackenburg castle: that Éponine had been causing trouble for her tutors and often not attending her classes. He’d already been informed of how she’d been struggling to learn her letters before he’d left for the most recent mission, and this reluctance meant it hadn’t gotten any better while he’d been out.

He asked, “Éponine, can you read this?”

“What’s it matter if I can or not?!” Éponine glared with a pout. Her round face and full cheeks reminded him of just how young of a child she was.

At her age he hadn’t been able to read, wouldn’t have considered it…life had imposed less kind concerns upon him. Yet that wasn’t what he cared about, no, Zero wanted Éponine’s childhood to be a good one. He’d been told this was the normal age for children with rich parents to start learning, so he’d hired the appropriate tutors. It seemed his daughter had inherited his knack for making trouble.

Holding in a sigh, Zero turned over and sat up. Resisting the urge to wipe the sleep from his eye, he swung his legs out from the covers and over the edge of the bed. “C’mon, let’s go have a talk with those stuffed shirts about your lessons,” he said, without looking away from tugging on his boots.

A bounce of the mattress had him glancing to where Éponine shook her head so furiously that her pigtails whipped with the motion. “No, reading is stupid. I’ll just be a thief like you, dad!”

Her words hit Zero like a knife to the gut, knocking the wind from him. He had to take a deep breath, before he replied, “No, you won’t. Besides, even my sticky fingers know how to turn the pages of a good book.”

He sat up and looked her in the eye, wearing a no-nonsense expression. But that simply had his daughter crossing her arms stubbornly and glaring harder. He’d initially been tickled by all the ways she’d taken after him, until Zero realized he was most often a stubborn brat.

“You drive a hard bargain.” Zero let a smile crack his serious demeanor. “Tell you what, Éponine. Let’s go to the library, just the two of us. Practice your letters, do a good job, and I’ll spend the rest of today with you. Deal?”

“Deal!” She agreed with a squeal of delight, and Zero allowed her to harry him out of bed.

After having kissed his wife good morning and informed her of the plan, Zero took Éponine to Krackenburg Castle’s library. Or rather he trailed after his daughter as she constantly ran ahead only to run back, all the while chattering away. His lord had given Zero the day off to rest and recover after returning from a grueling mission— and he was tired. Fantasies of curling up on the floor and falling back asleep flirted with his conscious mind. However, Éponine had energy to spare and her smiles were infections, so despite the way his feet dragged her excitement kept him putting one in front of the other until they’d reached their destination.

This library was familiar to Zero, and not simply because his lord was a bookworm. No, he'd studied here many times. Prince Leo had personally taught him letters so that Zero could understand written orders and answer missives. Herding Éponine to the worktables, he called for parchment, an ink well, and quill pen from the Librarian. Who delivered it all not long after Zero got his daughter seated. 

After setting out the writing tools, Zero pulled up a chair and sat down beside his daughter. “There’s twenty-six letters in the alphabet.” He dipped the quill and wrote out an example of each letter, before holding the pen out. “Write them all three times, Éponine, and we’ll leave the library and go wherever you want."

Éponine grumbled, but obligingly took up the quill. Dipping its nib in the inkwell, the glass tinked as she tapped its side, and then brought the quill to the blank surface of the practice parchment— dragging black shapes with slightly sloppy tapers. When they threatened to go totally misshapen, Zero took her hand in his and helped correct her direction before encouraging her to try again.

In the soft light of the castle library, the young girl copied out the alphabet under Zero’ watchful eye. He recalled how the quill pen had felt when he’d first picked it up— too light, fragile in his fingers. Later during Leo’s lessons he’d snapped the flimsy tool without thinking, frustration clenching his hand into a fist. It’d gotten ink everywhere, and had earned him an unimpressed glare form the prince. Now whenever he picked one up, he was sure to apply a careful gentleness. 

Éponine hadn’t demonstrated such destructive tendencies, simply scowling when frustrated and trying again. Regardless of his daughter’s earlier reluctance her determination to earn the prize filled the sheets of parchment faster than he’d anticipated. His reminiscing was cut short as Éponine declared the task ‘done’ and shoved the newly scribed alphabets in his direction. Zero looked each over, pointing out what could be improved the next time she had to write, but evidently took too long.

Bringing both hands down against the table, Éponine declared, “I did what you said, now tell me if I did a good job.”

“Oh?” Her impatience had Zero’ teasing. “Why don’t you spell it out for me?”

" _Daaaaaaaaaad,_ we had a deal!" 

"You're right I did."

Gently, more carefully than he’d ever held a quill pen, Zero took Éponine’s small hand in his own. Holding it palm-up, with his free hand he stroked his fingertip across her smooth skin. His daughter’s already big eyes grew wider as she pieced together the patterns behind his touch.

“G…o…o…d…j…o…b…” With a grin, Éponine spoke aloud the words Zero wrote over her skin. “Good job!”


End file.
